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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, 



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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



HEALTH AND STRENGTH 



FOR GIRLS 



77 



/ BY 

MARY J. SAFFORD, M. D. 

Prof. Boston University 
AND 

MARY E. ALLEN 

Supt. Boston Ladies and Children^ Gymnasium 



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BOSTON 
D. LOTHROP AND COMPANY 

FRANKLIN STREET 






Copyright, 1884. 
By D. Lothrop & Company. 



CONTENTS. 

I. The young Schoolgirl 7 

II. The old Church Green 16 

III. My little Patient 21 

IV. What I said to her Mother 25 

V. How she was dressed 32 

VI. What she ate 41 

VII. At the Gymnasium 51 

VIII. Kitty's Card 60 

IX. More of Kitty's Card Work 70 

X. Last Glances at Kitty 78 



HEALTH AND STRENGTH PA- 
PERS. 



L — THE YOUNG SCHOOL-GIRL. 

LAST summer, down in Maine, several school-girls 
were among the " summer boarders " at the farm- 
house where I was staying. Among them were two 
young daughters of a gentleman well known for his 
leadership in out-of-doors sports and pleasures. 
These two pale, languid girls set me to think about 
our young school-girls, and to feel what a pity it is 
that the growing taste for the brown and the rosy 
tints in complexion, for roundness and suppleness of 
figure, and for the strength to do what one chooses 
and so have " a good time," should not yet have 
reached school-girl circles. 

At present, the fashionable impulse is toward out- 
door life ; but the average school-girl of fourteen is, 

7 



8 HEALTH AND STRENGTH PAPERS. 

it seems, out of its circuit. Her younger sister romps, 
and is doing well — for the present. Her elder sis- 
ter, too, who is in society, is doing well : takes a 
three-mile walk with gay friends to a sunrise break- 
fast ; rides horseback across country of a forenoon ; 
she drives, she rows and she shoots ; and next season 
perhaps she will join the Appalachian Club and add 
climbing to her pleasures. 

But our school-girl is largely occupied with becom- 
ing " a young lady." She may lose sight of her inten- 
tion by and by, when she enters Lasell, or Wellesley, 
or Vassar ; but at present, especially if she be a 
village girl, she does not know even the joyous restful 
weariness of a long vigorous walk, much less would 
she run. An academy girl run ! She does not 
dream of the origin of the stately name of her select 
school — that Academos, a wise Greek, bequeathed a 
great tract of land to the city of Athens on condition 
that a public gymnasium should be erected on it, 
and that the gymnasium was called Academia, or 
the academy, in his honor. Very likely, treasures 
of flowers, rare plants, minerals, birds, and beautiful 
landscape views, illustrating the sciences and litera- 



THE YOUNG SCHOOL-GIRL. 9 

ture she is industriously studying in-doors, lie all 
about her, among the hills and woods, within walking 
distance. But she is none the richer. She and a 
friend, arm in arm, frequently " promenade ; " she 
stands about in groups, she returns calls, she goes/ 
shopping, she wears high French heels, and wears 
them, too, as nearly as may be, under her insteps. 
She has been known to visit the chiropodist. 

My two representative school-girls arrived at the 
farm-house with bad headaches, and were not visible 
until the next morning. Three babies who came by 
the same train reached us in much better trim. When 
we did see them, loosely plaited flannel gowns and 
broad hats bespoke rambles and open-air modes of 
daily life — in keeping with the athletic father s fame. 
Ferny woods, lofty points of view, silver lakes with boats 
tossing at their moorings, water-lily ponds and berry 
thickets, lay about us, east, west, north and south. 
Two months of picturesque Maine would balance the 
account with long recitations and the deathly folly of 
study-hours after school. 

But my pale young ladies, in common with most of 
the red-cheeked boarders, rose late. After breakfast, 



IO HEALTH AND STRENGTH PAPERS. 

they retired to the sofas, or their hammocks, to read 
a novel; often they went at once to their rooms and 
threw themselves on the bed. They slept after dinner, 
and sat up late at night for in-door, lamp-lit fun. 
They neither rowed nor fished. The light spruce 
oars stored in the barn, not at all too heavy for a 
girl's slender shoulders, invited them in vain. Nor 
did they ramble or go berrying. They sauntered 
and lounged all summer. 

I venture to say that they had heard from parents 
or teachers not one word of what they ought to get 
from two months' stay in country air and freedom. 

The school-girls are back now in the September 
schools, and no doubt they often dream over their 
books of the time when they shall be fine ladies and 
"in society." But, my dears, the fine women of so- 
ciety ten years hence will be, probably, somewhat 
different from the ladies of your imagination. I 
doubt, at least, whether so many of them come from 
district schools and village academies as came 
twenty years ago. I will tell you, presently, of a vil- 
lage school which sent out some strong, fine women ; 
but just now, without even stopping to say in detail 



THE YOUNG SCHOOL-GIRL. II 

why you need it, I prefer earnestly to ask all my 
young schoolgirl readers to adopt a certain exercise 
at recess, instead of strolling idly about and chatting. 
A noble woman, who has employed it in restoring 
health to invalid girls, assures me it also ought to be 
used to preserve health. Its intention for you is to rest 
you from sitting at your desks, to restore the circula- 
tion of the blood, and to render supple the whole 
body. 

The movements which affect the joints are grace- 
ful. Perhaps your teacher will come out and " count " 
for you, perhaps she will play tunes for you ; but you 
may enjoy it just as well should you choose the most 
determined girl of you all to " call off " for the row 
of you, and bind her never to "let you off" from 
going through the exercise once a day at least. It is 
a pretty sight when a dozen girls in a line go 
through these ten movements, each moving in perfect 
time. A handsome wand in your leader's hand, 
used as musical conductors use their batons, with 
which to harmonize and beat time for your move- 
ments, will add much to the beautiful effect of the 
spectacle. 



12 HEALTH AND STRENGTH PAPERS. 

The f ollowing ten movements to promote general sup- 
pleness are furnished by Miss Mary E. Allen, of the 
" Boston Gymnasium for Ladies and Children." 

Position : Heels together (as near as the config- 
uration of leg will permit) ; hips thrown back ; chest 
forward ; head erect, with eyes to front ; arms falling 
easy, with back of hand turned slightly to the front. 

Exercise ■ From this position bring hands to hips ; 
thumbs back. 

Head: Turn twice to right — twice to left — once 
to right — twice to left — once to right — back to 
front ; drop hands to side and close to a fist. 

Shoulder: Raise right shoulder as high as possible 
four times — raise left four times — raise right and left 
alternately four times (left going up as right comes 
down) — raise both together four times ; drop hands 
to side. 

Arm: Throw right arm to horizontal at side 
(hand closed tight) four times — throw left four times 
— throw right and left alternately four times — throw 
both together four times, and bring fingers to tip of 
shoulders, upper arm horizontal, elbow pointing to 
front. 



THE YOUNG SCHOOL-GIRL. 13 

Forearm: Throw right forearm to front on the 
elbow as a pivot, until the whole arm is horizontal 
(closing the hand at the throw), four times — throw 
left four times — throw right and left alternately four 
times — throw both together four times; and carry 
arms to side, horizontally stretched out, with palms 
up, and fingers closed into a fist. 

Wrist: Turn right fist up as far as possible four 
times (elbow stiff) — turn left up four times — turn 
right and left up alternately four times — turn up 
together four times ; and bring arms to horizontal 
stretch, front, palms down, fingers together and closed. 

Hand : Open right hand and stretch every finger 
four times — open left hand four times — open right 
and left alternately four times — open together four 
times ; and bring hands to hips. 

Trunk: Turn as far as possible to right (holding 
trunk firm, turning face at same time, heels firmly 
planted), two times — turn to left two times — turn 
to right once — turn to left two times — turn to right 
once; and back to position. 

Thigh : Carry right leg across left (crossing left 
thigh as far up and as close as possible, knees stiff) 



14 HEALTH AND STRENGTH PAPERS. 

four times — carry left leg across right four times — 
carry right and left across each other alternately 
eight times. 

Leg : Raise right leg as high as possible behind, 
(on the knee as a pivot) four times (thigh remaining 
vertical and firm) — raise left leg four times — raise 
right and left alternately eight times. 

Foot: Raise right foot on heel as high as possible 
four times — raise left four times — raise right and 
left alternately eight times. 

The position is very important, and the leader 
should insist upon it before the exercise begins. The 
body should hold the original position — with such 
changes as are indicated — firmly, so that only cer- 
tain muscles are in use at once ; thus, when the arm 
is used, the body should be stiff and firm. 

Head movements should always be slow, but 
firm, never with sudden force. Hence they are taken 
on the first beat of a measure only, or on i when 
counting i, 2, 3, 4. All other movements are done 
with a spasmodic action, faster, using every other 
beat of 2-4 or 4-4 time, or on 1 and 3, in counting 4. 
That is, the movement is made on 1 and the return 



THE YOUNG SCHOOL-GIRL. 1 5 

to position on 3. This exercise can be taken to any 
even 2-4 or 4-4 time — a pot-pourri of popular airs 
being pleasing, or any polka or quickstep. 

These movements aid in bringing the muscles 
under the control of the will, and promote ease and 
grace of movement ; also, as they force the mind and 
muscles to work together, they are a very valuable 
stimulus to the mental faculties ; and, if enthusiasti- 
cally and earnestly carried out, their influence will be 
felt in all mental work. 



II. — THE OLD CHURCH GREEN. 

IN these days of much anxiety regarding the phy- 
sical well-being of ourselves, I often revert to 
the Arcadian simplicity of life in a certain village, far, 
far inland, some twenty or more years agor— a little 
white, orchardy village it was — where everybody was 
well and stayed well for long periods of time, although 
not one of the inhabitants, so far as I know, held any 
theory concerning diet, and gymnasiums had not 
then been heard of there. 

I have well in view now a group of school-girls be- 
longing to that village, a group of a dozen. The 
gray stone school-house stood at one end of the 
meeting-house green. The village was too small for 
conventional observances. Even the grandest family 
kept no servants. There was little disposition, then, 

to criticize if the elder daughters of twelve and four- 

16 



THE OLD CHURCH GREEN. 1 7 

teen had so little time after washing up the break- 
fast dishes for getting to school that they ran like 
a pair of young Atalantas along the village streets 
to escape tardy-marks. Not one of the dozen walked 
to school twice a week. 

They ran again at recess — the long delightful 
recess of a country school. Ran — indeed they ran, 
for the one who reached the meeting-house steps 
last was, by unwritten but immemorial law, " the 
catcher," " the blackman." Then what races around 
the old white church ! what hidings, what dartings 
forth, what steady speed, what shouts and laughter, 
and what handsome, shapely limbs, round ankles, 
full calves, strong muscles ! But this was in the days 
of heelless shoes. The blood was well drawn down 
from the wearied brain before the old-fashioned 
" ruler " sounded on the window-sash. 

Not a girl of these swift runners but could scale 
and leap the high rail-fence to be first at the bitter 
walnut-tree in the season of this delectable dainty, 
each there sooner than her mates. Then, too, there 
was the quiet old mill-pond with its long, deep, still 
dike hidden in the lush grasses of the meadow-lands. 



l8 HEALTH AND STRENGTH PAPERS. 

What perils of upset and ducking were braved there 
as, in stately procession, each girl standing on her 
raft of a solitary plank and poling herself dextrously 
along, the gay flotilla made the distance from the 
school-house to the flume ! Too much vim in a 
thrust of the pole, and the board departed sideways 
from under your feet and you reeled off into the 
water; or your plank veered resolutely in-shore, 
stopping the boat-women behind, in spite of your 
best poling; but, ah, what balance of poise you 
gained, what action of the holding-on muscles in the 
soles of your feet, what control of yourself in exigen- 
cies ! And after that remained the feat of walking 
the flume, leaping, sure-footed, from beam to beam 
over the whole long, green, slippery length down to 
the noisy mill-wheels themselves ! 

As I said, gymnasiums, with their array of poles 
and bars, were not even so much as talked of in this 
green, peaceful, bowery village ; but just as surely 
one existed there — a matter of instinct and neces- 
sity with the splendid young romps of that school, 
where even the little girls of Kindergarten size 
every day swung boldly out into air from the great 



THE OLD CHURCH GREEN. 19 

lightning-rod of the church. Behind the church, 
whose broad platform was a delightful plaza for end- 
less hippity-hop, was the long row of church sheds 
with their regularly recurring tiers of lower and 
upper beams. Across the upper beams — a dizzy 
height to the small children — rested some long 
ladders, spanning eighteen or twenty feet of space. 

Up, in the long noonings, up, from sill to lower 
beam, from lower beams up the braces to the 
higher beams, like squirrels went the climbing dozen. 
What steady heads, to be sure, what equipose of the 
whole frame, what command of muscle, as one after 
another paced, or shoved, or crept along out upon 
the beam to perch there in a chattering row until 
school called ! But the ladders were best of all. A 
dextrous leap up from the lower beam, and a rung 
was caught in the firm brown hand, and off went the 
leader walking through space, grasping one rung after 
another until the opposite beam was reached, behind 
her a long line of followers, whence she passed on to 
the next ladder — well, it was great fun; and the 
deep, full, round chests, the harmonious development 
of muscle, the complete circulation of blood, the fear- 



20 HEALTH AND STRENGTH PAPERS. 

lessness of action gained there on the old meeting- 
house green, have stood those young romps in good 
stead. To-day they all are living — strong, handsome 
wholesome, healthy, sunny women, each in a position 
of influence, and each none the less refined for those 
gymnastic feats on the old church play-ground. 

I cannot take the school-girls to whom I am talking 
to that secluded village green, but I do tell them that 
within their own will lie the means of saving, if not 
re-creating, health and beauty. Look up the romp- 
ing games of old times. Ask your country aunts and 
grandmothers to describe them to you. There is no 
good reason why in our beautiful forest-circled villages, 
with their near coverts and dells and dales, that the 
inspiriting sport of "hare and bounds" should belong 
exclusively to the boys. This game is better worth 
your while, both as sport and exercise, than croquet, 
lawn tennis or archery. Ask your brothers to explain 
to you its simple requirements, and appoint your 
" meets " for Saturday afternoons next season ; and I 
am sure you will outdo the base-ball clubs in enthu- 
siasm and fun. You cannot fail of good times, if you 
dress properly for the sport. 



III. — MY LITTLE PATIENT. 

I AM going to tell the young school-girls who 
read this about the little patient who came 
to me yesterday. What a wretched little huddle she 
looked as I came down to her ! She is only thirteen, 
but the tired-out-ness of forty-five was on her pale 
face. Her lungs were lost — folded up somewhere 
between her rounded, bowed shoulders, as she 
drooped in her chair. 

"Sit up! sit up — up — up!" I said, my own 
lungs aching sympathetically at sight of her. 

"I — can't!" she answered me, and with such 
a hopeless respiration. 

I doubt if she will, or can yet, of her own accord. 
I drew her shoulders back, but they fell forward 
again, in a moment, as I took my seat. 

My pale patient goes to school from nine a. m. to 

two P. M. 

21 



22 HEALTH AND STRENGTH PAPERS. 

The school is about four blocks from her house. 
I learned from her that she almost always rides to 
school on the horse cars that pass by her door. 

This pale girl is very ambitious to rank high in her 
studies. Very of ten when the half-hour recess is given 
she is seen crouched in a remote corner puzzling 
over some unconquered problem, so that she does 
not even get a change of position nor a breath of 
fresh air. Sometimes she is too hurried and anxious 
to eat her lunch. Since my talk with her teacher, 
however, I do not regard this as a serious loss. 

When my pale young friend gets borne from school, 
does she do as does her brother two years her senior? 
He takes bat and ball, and makes a bee-line for the 
nearest play-ground; and there, with a rollicking set 
of playmates, throws his whole soul and body into 
fun-making for two or more hours. 

No, she doesn't do that. A piano lesson is to be 
practised, or there is a fascinating piece of Kensing- 
ton stitch to be finished in time for a present for some 
festal occasion. She gets no change of position ; her 
head still droops, her shoulders still bow forward, 
her spine still curves. 



MY LITTLE PATIENT. 27, 

And thus the twelve hours of precious sunshine 
have faded into evening, and the pale girl has had 
it all under glass. Now night closes in upon her, 
the lamp is lighted, and the brother and sister draw 
about it and begin the task of study for the coming 
day. 

His mind is fresh. His body tingles with ruddy 
health from head to foot. An hour of good study 
suffices for him. He is ready for bed. Probably 
" study hours out of school " will work him no seri- 
ous harm. 

But his pale sister ! She was so weary and nerv- 
ous when she began to study, that nothing seems 
clear to her ; and after spending two hours, bowed 
over her books in an endeavor to commit her lessons 
to memory, discouraged, and it may be tearful, she 
is persuaded to go to bed. But it is not to sleep a 
quiet, restful sleep. Her lessons haunt her dreams, 
she awakens in the morning, unrefreshed, to begin 
the routine of another high-pressure day. 

What did I do for her ? 

I did not put up any medicines for her to carry 
home. I showed her how to sit correctly and health- 



24 HEALTH AND STRENGTH PAPERS. 

fully, how to stand healthfully, and how to walk health- 
fully. But before the lesson was over, I saw that I 
must send for the mother and instruct her. Upon her 
must fall, for a while, the responsibility of insisting 
that her neglected child sits, stands and walks health- 
fully. She should have begun this supervision long 
ago when her daughter was but ten years old. 



IV. — WHAT I SAID TO HER MOTHER. 

MY little patient came back with her mother that 
same afternoon. She spoke very pleasantly to 
me : "I understand my little girl to say that she needs 
no medicine, but that instead you wish to lecture her 
mother." 

Yes, that was just what I wished. I proceeded to 
do it, first standing the poor girl up before us. 

"Your daughter/' said I, "is not diseased. She is 

simply suffering from bad habits, and needs her 

mother's immediate and patient supervision. Look 

at her poor little figure ! She was not born so. You 

have allowed her to become this. Her spine was 

straight and erect. Now it curves from the neck to 

below the shoulders. Her head and shoulders have 

been thrown forward, because she has sat in a wrong 

way. How could you let your child grow into such a 

shape ! 

25 



26 HEALTH AND STRENGTH PAPERS. 

"Now look at her chest. It is correspondingly 
concave. The space occupied by the lungs is pro- 
portionally lessened. Because the lungs are so deli- 
cate in structure, and yet so vital in their importance, 
they have been most carefully placed and guarded 
against pressure. The ribs protect them on either 
side, the breast-bone in front, the spine and the 
broad shoulder-blades on the back. Now, keep these 
bones in just the right position, muscles and liga- 
ments are so arranged as to hold them in place. If 
one of these muscles or cords gets shortened, 
lengthened, or weakened, we very soon have dis- 
tortion where there should be symmetry. 

"The muscles that should help to hold your 
daughter erect are lengthened, relaxed and weak ; in 
consequence her shoulders stoop. At present she 
cannot hold them up. The muscles of the chest 
are contracted — in her case they have become 
rigid. Let us see her try to take a full deep 
breath." 

The girl did her best. She was as interested as 
her mother. The idea that she was deformed had 
taken hold of her. 



WHAT I SAID TO HER MOTHER. 27 

"You see how she gasps, and how the shoulders 
are drawn up. It is actually impossible for her to 
fully inflate her lungs and expand her chest. You 
must at once begin to bear in mind that if every indi- 
vidual cell in the lungs is not filled with air, that cell 
becomes a dead cell, and may be the beginning of dis- 
ease. If any of your daughter's school-friends stoop 
as she does, I hope you will tell their mothers what I 
say. — Now you may sit down, my dear." 

The girl sat down in the way that had become 
natural to her. She slid down until she rested the 
weight of her body on the lower segments of the 
spine. I called her mother's attention to this. At 
first she could see nothing wrong in it. I explained 
to her how this position caused heat and pressure 
where the child spoke of having pain. 

" This lower part of the back was never intended to sit 
upon" said I emphatically. "The spine was made to 
keep erect, sitting or standing. The large bones of 
the pelvis are arranged to support the body in sitting, 
and thick, fleshy muscles form cushions over them for 
our comfort. Your daughter cannot continue these 
habits in sitting without interfering with the right 



28 HEALTH AND STRENGTH PAPERS. 

position of the pelvic organs, and that will be the be- 
ginning of disease and suffering in them — perhaps at 
the same time that the dead cells are working mischief 
in her lungs." 

The tears came into the mother's eyes. The little 
girl looked at her, then at me. But I went on, again 
placing her in front of us : 

"Look at her once more as she stands. Not only 
do the shoulders stoop, but one shoulder is higher, as 
is one hip, than the other; and there is a slight lat- 
eral curvature of the spine." 

Then I requested her to walk across the floor once 
or twice. 

" Has she an elastic step ? " I asked. " Does she 
walk as if there were joy in movement ? The glad- 
ness of the lamb, the colt, the kitten, should still be 
in the movements of so young a creature. Her step 
is shambling — how much her shoes are responsible for 
it we will investigate later. You see there is no swing 
to the body, no suppleness, not even lightness. The 
arms are held rigid. She walks as if the act of walking 
were imposed upon her as a duty, as a necessary 
task. 



WHAT I SAID TO HER MOTHER. 29 

"No wonder you sigh over the ill conditions your 
daughter presents. But with care and the vigorous 
and persevering exercise of common sense she may 
overcome her present troubles and bad tendencies. 
The first step to restore harmony and symmetry to 
the muscles is to take gymnastic exercises of the 
right kind. The sensible thing is that you yourself 
should accompany her to the gymnasium, and take 
at least one term of exercises with her, so that you 
may appreciate their value, and also the importance 
of certain movements above others to meet her 
especial needs. When you have thus learned how 
to guide and direct your daughter in gymnastic 
movements, you can arrange simple and inexpensive 
gymnastic machinery in your own home, so that these 
exercises may become to her a pleasurable daily habit. 

"You will probably take her to Miss Allen. She 
will see that your daughter's first need is to learn 
how to breathe. She will prescribe a five minutes' 
* breathing exercise,' night and morning. This exer- 
cise will put and keep her lungs in good working 
order, and gradually broaden her chest." 

The "breathing exercise" and the other gymnastic 



$0 HEALTH AND STRENGTH PAPERS. 

treatment which she planned for my little patient, you 
will find described by Miss Allen herself farther on. 

" Having started right at the gymnasium," I went on, 
" you must insist upon walks, because open air and 
sunshine is as needful as exercise. You must inter- 
est her in walking by walking with her, and by creat- 
ing pleasurable aims and interests to call her out of 
doors. There is flower-hunting after you have read 
aloud to each other interesting plant papers ; and let 
her in her out-of-town excursions learn the native 
trees by their leaves and bark and form. Interest 
her in geology by calling her attention to the stones 
she may see everywhere. 

"With all this, she must have sleep enough. 
? Early to bed,' must be imperative ; but if nature re- 
bels against it, I should not enforce the rest of the 
old adage, i early to rise.' Moreover, make time for 
her to take a nap during the day if she will." 

As she arose to go, the mother looked down at her 
daughter with a sigh. 

" I feel appalled at what you have set me to do," 
said she : "medicines would be so much easier." 



WHAT I SAID TO HER MOTHER. 3 1 

"/ don't feel so, mother," said the girl. She was 
really trying to stand erect, and there was a gleam of 
something hopeful in her eyes. I was interested as I 
saw this spark of energy. 

" Come here again," said I, " to-morrow if you 
like, and I will say a few little things to you about 
your daughter's dress, and about her food." 



V.— HOW SHE WAS DRESSED. 

IT was on one of the bleakest mornings in Decem- 
ber that my little patient and her mother came 
to my office for a third consultation. 

The little girl looked blue where there should have 
been a mantling red. They had been delayed by de- 
taining street-cars, and, as the mother expressed it, 
they were pierced to the bone by the searching raw 
wind. Women nearly always make the unwise 
choice when it is a question of sitting ten minutes 
in a detained car or walking a half-mile. A man 
rarely sits and shivers thus. The consideration 
of warmth naturally came uppermost as I undressed 
my little patient to examine her clothing, as I had 
promised. 

"I'm sure you will find her all right as regards 

dress," said her mother, confidently. " Still I thought 

I would come." 

32 



HOW SHE WAS DRESSED. ^3 

But I frequently find a mother's idea of " all right'' 
to be my idea of (i all wrong." 

I looked at her shoes : They were made of kid. 
The soles were thin. Her brother shod thus would 
have felt as though he had gone into the street in his 
stocking-feet. There was sleet on the ground, but 
she wore no overshoes. The heels were an inch and 
a half high, pointed, sloping toward the middle of the 
foot, and thev were worn off and rounded at the 
edges, and they must sometimes have " turned " under 
the poor little wearer unexpectedly. 

" My heels do turn under me, mother," said the girl 
as I spoke of this. 

The neatly fitting stockings were cotton, extend- 
ing over the knees, where they were held in place by 
a broad " elastic." I drew one of them off. The 
poor little foot was as cold as ice, and nearly as col- 
orless. The stocking was impressed upon the skin 
about the ankle from the pressure of the shoe. 
Above the knee the elastic had reddened the flesh 
and indented it in ridges. 

I placed the cold foot on a piece of paper, and drew 



34 HEALTH AND STRENGTH PAPERS. 

an outline of it to show the mother the contrast in 
width to the sole of the shoe. 

I bade her observe, too, how she must poise on 
the toes of the bare foot to bring its heel on a level 
with the heel of the booted foot. 

" Can you wonder she does not take kindly to 
long walks ? " I asked. " Walking or standing, she 
must balance herself on her toes and a peg under her 
heel. The body is thrown forward, out of balance, 
and all the muscles from the hips downward are put 
upon a strain — I assure you they often fairly quiver 
from fatigue. No wonder she is not a gentle, grace- 
ful walker, and that she never runs. She is obliged 
to hobble, my dear madam. And do you see these 
callouses, the beginnings of corns and bunions ? 
Perhaps you think that the ankles are really sup- 
ported by this tight leather that encases them up 
so high, but it is not so. The English Alpine 
mountain-climbers who endure best, wear a low 
shoe." 

" Still I hope you won't prescribe for her those ugly 
' Macombers ' that some of the New York women are 
wearing — such ugly shapes ! " said the mother. 



HOW SHE WAS DRESSED. 35 

" They are proper boots to wear, nevertheless,'' I 
said ; " and had you studied how most effectually to im- 
pede the circulation of the blood to her extremities, 
you could not have done it more successfully. Elastic 
bands are injurious, no matter where worn; but the 
worst place of all is just above the knee, where there 
are such prominent blood-vessels and nerves. And 
have you really considered these thin stockings ? " 

" She has always worn them," said the mother. 
" Of course I would not put them on her suddenly 
of a winter's clay. But, as one may say, she is hard- 
ened to it." 

" So are the Esquimaux and Laplanders hardened 
to cold — look at the stunted creatures! And look 
at this thin, cold little leg — it has no plump calf, no 
curves ! " 

The child, in whom there was probably a latent 
conception of beauty, looked hurt and tearful ; but 
how could I spare her ? 

" Now try a full, deep breath ! See, something 
prevents her. She breathes from the upper part of 
the chest. There is no distention at the waist, no 
movement at all of the abdominal muscles, as there 



36 HEALTH AND STRENGTH PAPERS. 

would be if the lungs filled to their natural capacity." 

Investigation revealed a corset, and that brought 
forth the following dress history from mother and 
daughter : — 

Up to eleven years of age my little patient had 
worn loose waists, her skirts buttoned upon them. 

"And how could you," I interrupted, "have taken 
them off at that critical age, when her form was 
changing and rounding out, and needed room and 
freedom to do it in, and substitute a laced, boned 
and steeled jacket? " 

The mother hesitated ; but the little girl answered : 
" I had a weak stomach, and mother thought it would 
do me good to have the support of steels. She said 
I sat all over in a bunch ; and besides I must have 
some shape given me, or else I would have a waist as 
big as a boy.' ' 

" Yes," said the mother, " and Mamie wanted cor- 
sets. Her school-mates were putting them on, and 
she did not want to be odd. So I bought her some. 
She did not wear them tight." 

" Oh mother ! they were tighter than you thought, 
because when I went to stay with Clara White one 



HOW SHE WAS DRESSED. 37 

night, she said I would look ever so much better if 
my waist was smaller, and so she laced me, and after 
that I wore my corsets so, so as to look as slight and 
pretty about the waist as I could. I used to be ever 
so glad when I got them off at night and could take 
a long breath. But if I didn't wear them, I had an 
all-gone feeling and couldn't hold myself up." 

"Well," said I to the mother, "it is as I thought. 
The corsets, and the elastics, and the tight, narrow- 
soled, high-heeled boots are the causes of much of the 
mischief here. The corsets alone prevent her breath- 
ing right ; have brought the muscles of her waist 
into disuse ; have interfered with the circulation of 
her blood by pressing upon the very fountain-head of 
circulation, the heart ; have weakened her power of 
digestion by making it impossible for the stomach to 
dilate and contract with freedom ; have undermined 
her nervous vitality by pressing upon her nerve- 
centres. You have, too, heated her about the waist 
unduly by the disproportionate number of thicknesses 
over that region compared with other parts of the 
body, parts that should have more instead of less 
heat, because of the greater distance from the centre 



38 HEALTH AND STRENGTH PAPERS. 

of circulation. Look ! from the knees to the feet one 
thickness of thin cotton; the under-flannels extend 
only just below the knee. Now count the layers of 
cloth at the waist : undervest, chemise, corset of the 
cloth in double, corset cover, lined dress waist, to 
say nothing of various bands ; and over all, drawing 
all into the smallest possible compass, is this broad, 
unyielding leather belt ! How can flesh, blood, 
muscle, nerve and bone under this heat and pressure 
remain true to the functions assigned them ? 

" This heavy quilted skirt, too, that Fashion has 
again brought into wear, is specially objectionable, 
hanging, as it does, from her slender hips ; and when 
wet around the bottom it is too thick to dry quickly, 
and damp ankles is the -result of a walk on a wet 
morning." 

" Nothing is right, it seems," said the mother, half- 
vexed. "And still, what am I to do ? Her clothes 
are made for the winter. It is impossible that I 
should go to the expense of refitting her. Nor," 
added she, " shall I enjoy seeing her a dowdy." 

" I see. But you can do much with needle, thread 
and buttons. Unite her undervest and drawers with 



HOW SHE WAS DRESSED. 39 

buttons and buttonholes. Take the steels and bones 
from the corset, and button or hook it. Add to it 
shoulder-straps, and also buttons to button on her 
skirts, and side elastics to hold her stockings up, 
taking care that this attachment is made back of the 
prominent hip bones. Set her boot-buttons forward 
until you can put your finger between boot and 
stocking. Replace the heels with broad ones only a 
half-inch high. She must wear overshoes with these 
boots, but when new ones are bought let them be 
heavy, to avoid overshoes. She also must wear leg- 
gings until you buy thick stockings. 

" Meantime, I will give you the address of some 
hygienic outfitters in women's wear, so that you may 
acquaint yourself with healthfully cut garments before 
dressing her for the summer. You will be delighted 
to see how few pieces are needed, and that wearing 
them your daughter may still be elegantly dressed." 

" I know one thing, mother," said the daughter, 
" I can't go to the gymnasium and then feel comfort- 
able in these clothes next day. This morning I felt 
as if I'd outgrown every single thing I put 
on." 



40 HEALTH AND STRENGTH PAPERS. 

I felt, as she spoke thus, that, once set in the true 
ways, the child herself would right her wrongs. So, 
with a real interest in her, I asked them to come 
once more, and talk with me about what she ate. 



VI.— WHAT SHE ATE. 

WHEN they came the third time, I could see a 
hopeful change in my little patient. There 
was an eager sparkle in her eyes. She did not 
stand, or sit, or step, in the way she did at first. She 
was all interest, all alertness. And some of my pre- 
scriptions had been followed. She had new boots, 
and they were strong, wide-soled, with low heels. 
She wore leggings too ; and instead of a poke bonnet, 
she had on a soft, snug cape-hood that covered her 
ears with its pretty rose-lined frills, and that would 
protect her neck from chills and draughts in the 
horse-cars. 

The mother gave a half-vexed little laugh as she 
saw me looking the child over. 

"Oh, I've bought new clothes entire," she said; 
"and I suppose after you've done with us to-day," she 

41 



42 HEALTH AND STRENGTH PAPERS. 

added, "we shall hire a new cook, and change our 
grocer. But I really do believe the child's table 
habits are bad, and I am only too willing to be ad- 
vised. She always was peculiar, and never ate any- 
thing as other children do — in fact she doesn't eat 
much of anything at any time, and when she does it 
is not at meal-time. At breakfast she is troubled 
with a bad taste in her mouth, and she says nothing 
relishes so early in the morning." 

"And does she leave for school without eating?" 

"Well — no, not quite. Usually I get her to take 
a cup of coffee, and sometimes she eats a doughnut 
or a cookie with it." 

"You make the coffee fresh for her?" 

"No — we keep it hot on the range." 

"Overdone coffee is hurtful to the stomach," I 
said. "No one should touch it unless it is fresh- 
made. After two minutes' hard boiling it is mischiev- 
ous. And so I am to understand that she often goes 
away to endure several hours of study upon the nutri- 
ment she gets from a cup of spoiled coffee and a 
doughnut? No wonder that she subsides into a 
corner of the sofa when she returns." 



WHAT SHE ATE. 43 

"I have often suggested that she should take a 
lunch, but she always has pickled limes or chocolate- 
drops with her, and she says that w r hen there is a 
gnawing at her stomach that a bite of a lime or candy 
relieves her." 

"And sometimes I carry fruit or sponge-cake," 
added the patient, evidently anxious that all should 
be told. 

"But when she comes from school, I suppose 
there is a good substantial meal in waiting," I 
said. 

"Well," replied the mother, "we have noon 
dinners, and of course t>he cannot be at home ; 
but the cook always puts aside something 
choice." 

"Meats and vegetables and puddings are not good 
when they have dried in the oven an hour, any more 
than coffee is," said the daughter decidedly; "and 
there are no good coals to broil a fresh steak, even if 
I cared for it ; so cook makes me a cup of tea,, and I 
have some bread and butter, or cookies, with it. 
Sometimes, if she is not too busy, she cooks me an 



44 HEALTH AND STRENGTH PAPERS. 

" We always have the nicest and finest of white 
bread," said the mother. "So she doesn't really 
suffer, I guess. But I don't approve of the tea. 
I never have. I think it has a great deal to do with 
her nervousness. But her father laughs at me, and 
says that his grandmother drank strong tea three 
times a day, and lived to be ninety years old." 

" And I always have had it," said the daughter. 

" Yes," said the mother. " It is only natural 
children should want it, and should get a sip when 
every one is enjoying it at table," 

"And what does she have at supper?" I asked. 

"Well, her dinner having been so late, of course 
she doesn't care for much supper; so she has a cup of 
tea and a slice of cake and a saucer of fruit." 

"And then comes study hour?" I asked. 

"Yes," said the girl, "and then is the time I get 
hungry and eat something. I feel all gone, and still 
so very hungry." 

"And you go into the pantry and help yourself?" 
I asked, laughing in spite of my responsibility. 

"Yes, a wolf-meal," said she, laughing back. 

"Of what? Last night, for instance?" 



WHAT SHE ATE. 45 

" I believe it was cold beans," she said. 

"And on them?" 

"Pepper-sauce and mustard," laughed her mother. 

"And one day's like another, I suppose?" I said. 
"Well, I don't know a worse record. I wonder, 
sometimes, that children do not actually die from 
nervous prostration, are not actually found in insane 
asylums ! With such vitality, what do they not endure ! 
What splendid creatures some of them would grow 
up, were they trained and cared for healthfully ! Do 
you like milk?" 

"Ye-es, I guess so," said the girl. 

"Why not drink that instead of coffee and tea?" 

The mother paused. 

"I don't know — we buy our milk — one would 
have to take such a quantity were it used on the 
table as a beverage. Still, of course, she could have 
it if you think best. Doesn't it make people bilious ? " 

" That is often said without signifying much. 
Milk has several food-giving qualities; of itself it 
makes a good meal, and when drank in connection 
with eating heartily of other things, it often gives a 
sense of fulness and satiety that would not be expe- 



46 HEALTH AND STRENGTH PAPERS. 

rienced if eaten with one of the grains, or if drank 
when the meal was a light one." 

Then I suggested oatmeal. But here the daughter 
herself shook her head decidedly. "Sticky stuff," 
she said. "And warmed over at that! " 

"My dear, you are worth an experiment," I an- 
swered. "I will send you a breakfast to-morrow." ; 
(I sent her a dish of perfectly steamed oatmeal, 
smothered in cream. She came in at night to tell 
me she ate it, every grain. 

"It was grains," she said knowingly. "It wasn't 
paste ! And mother wants to know how you cook it, 
and she is going to buy cream." 

So I showed her my pet steamers, and told her 
time and quantity; and I showed her barley, and rye, 
and gluten, and cracked wheat, and told her that as 
they were the foods for bone and muscle building, the 
young and growing should eat fully and daily of 
them. "You would have had very different teeth, 
my child," I said, "had you eaten of these instead 
of white bread." 

" And do you not care for meats at all ? " I went on. 

"I don't seem to." 



WHAT SHE ATE. 47 

" You ought to like a sirloin steak, a tender chop, or 
a slice of rib roast." 

" I like fowl very well," she said. 

"And fish?" 

She shook her head. "I don't seem to." 

"She really doesn't," said the mother. 

" Well, with exercise, and abstinence from tea and 
coffee and cake, she will. Meantime you might 
make good soups and broths." 

"Oh, I should like soups, mother," said the child, 
and so thirstily that it arrested my attention, and I 
tried to show her mother how burned and heated the 
stomach had become from indulgence in "mustard 
and pepper-sauce," tea and coffee; and I also de- 
scribed several soups. 

"We seldom have soups," said the mother, "but 
we can, I suppose, though I shall have to make them 
myself. A cook's idea of a soup is so much water, so 
much grease, and so much pepper." 

" You will see a great difference, I said, " when 
your daughter is nourished instead of stimulated for 
her day's brain-work. The tea, coffee and condi- 
ments act upon her as the whip on a tired horse — it 



48 HEALTH AND STRENGTH PAPERS. 

makes him trot when he naturally would stop for rest." 

" Must she have no sweets ? " 

" Please don't suppose that I can't give up my 
" candy /" said our little patient scornfully. 

M I do not object to plain, pure sugar candies, if 
eaten as a dessert now and then," said I, much to 
their surprise. " The flavoring and coloring are 
often mischievous. Keep that in mind. Still I 
rather you would give candies the go-by along with 
the peppers and limes, and get your positive sweets 
and sours from fruits. Let an orange before break- 
fast be your only between-meal indulgence. When 
once you have gained an appetite for healthy foods, 
the idea of food between meals will be actually repug- 
nant to you. And don't you know that your stomach 
is bound to take hold of food and try to digest it just 
as soon and just as often as any is offered it ? You 
will feel very different then from head to foot when 
your stomach is allowed its rightful and regular 
rests. This precaution alone will help you to a good 
appetite in time." 

Then I turned to the mother : 

" A mother," I said, " needs to be a chemist and 



WHAT SHE ATE. 49 

microscopist to know how to prepare food so that it 
shall be the most palatable and nourishing. With an 
understanding of the microscope and of chemistry, 
she could often detect impurities in the food she 
buys, even. A large majority of the foods prepared 
for babies is not what it purports to be." 

" Don't I don't ! " cried the mother rising. " Don't 
dig down to the roots J Don't propose thoroughness ! 
I've no time ! It's too late ! I never had such a 
sense of responsibility before, and I can't think of 
going deeper than you have already proposed." 

"But I — mother! /can learn ! I'm just in the 
learning-time ! " said her daughter. What is it, doc- 
tor ? Tell me! Are there schools to teach these 
things? Mother can't go, but / can. Then when I 
grow up /shall know. And I'll have my home right, 
and have my girls eat and sleep and walk and dress and 
study right, and that way the world could all be made 
new again ! " 

The girl was in great, deep earnest. Her eyes 
burned star-bright, her cheeks burned rose-red. 

How could I help spending another hour with her, 
trusting to her enthusiasm to waken other girls ! How 



50 HEALTH AND STRENGTH PAPERS. 

could I help telling her of the cooking schools, and 
of the Women's Laboratory where domestic chemistry- 
is taught — what the things we eat are made of, what 
are put into them to cheapen and render them unfit ; 
and of the Women's Physiological Society, and 
that there are opportunities for women to learn about 
the best methods of heating and ventilating houses, 
even how the sewerage pipes should be arranged to 
keep our dwellings free from hurtful gases, and what 
materials every housekeeper should keep and use to 
avoid bad odors in the house. I told her, too, of art- 
rooms and art-lectures where the principles and illus- 
trations bore straight upon making home beautiful. 

" O mother ! " cried she, all in a glow, " such going 
to school as that would amount to something ! " 

Her mother put her arm about her to quiet the 
nervous girl ; and I said gently, " Get strong, my 
dear, and all these things are possible to you." 

" Oh, I will," she said. " I have begun. You just 
ask Miss Allen what she is doing with me ! " 



VII. — AT THE GYMNASIUM. 

I WILL tell you something that Dr. Safford omit- 
ted in her papers — that she was so interested 
in her little patient she came down to the gym- 
nasium and talked with me about her, urging me to 
take special pains with her as a representative of 
the great middle class, who are so little interested in 
physical culture. And it is true that a dozen fash- 
ionable young beauties consult me where one comes 
who needs strength to " work? for a living" — proba- 
bly not for health's sake, or for strength's sake, but: 
for the sake of beauty and grace. 

Therefore when a pale, quiet girl came into my 
office one day, accompanied by her mother, I intui- 
tively said to myself, " Ah, there she is ! " Nat- 
urally, I now have a practised eye; I can " diagnose" 
my pupils with tolerable correctness. I at once felt 

Si 



52 HEALTH AND STRENGTH PAPERS. 

a sympathetic constriction of my lungs. I longed to 
help her breathe. I asked her to stand up and try a 
full breath. There was no flexibility of the breath- 
ing muscles. I asked her to look at herself in the 
glass, repeating the breaths. " See," I said to her 
mother, " how those shoulders rise, and down at the 
waist, where she should grow very large, she grows 
smaller." 

So many girls who come to me breathe up, and 
not downwards at all. Yes, Dr. Safford was right : 
she needed " breathing exercises " at once. 

Her mother said she had resolved to let her try 
gymnasium work ; and so, asking them to step into 
the hall and inspect the apparatus, I made out the 
card on the opposite page for the girl to work by, and as 
it was a great mystery to the young recipient, I will 
explain it to you all in my next chapter, as I explained 
it to her : 

As I rejoined them, I observed a doubtful expres- 
sion on the mother's face. One of my Beacon street 
pupils was then practising for the pure joy of it 
with the flying rings ; and a young lady was at work 
with the vaulting bars. The pallid, cold, little new 



AT THE GYMNASIUM. 



S3 



pupil was looking on with both wonder and delight, 
but the mother shook her head. " Dangerous ! " she 
said. " Too violent by far." 



MISS KITTIE 



November 20, 1S82. 



Machine. 


Exercise. 




Times. 


Running-track 


Run slowly around 


5 


" " 


Walk rapidly around 31DS 6oz 


4 


P. W. 


Series B 1-4 2lbs 




2oe 


Shoulder-bar 


N s. 1 & 2 




i6e 


Mattress 


Breathing movement on back 






Rowing 


Open knee 
Rest 5 min. on back 




2 5 


P. W. 


Series D 1-5 2lbs 


ioe 


Rowing Weights 


Nos. 1-4 2 i-2lbs 




6e 


Wrist-bar 


3. J -4 






Spring-stand 


Jump 






Suspended rings 


Hang and swing 






Mattress 


Breathing movement on back 
Rest 5 nun. en back 






Running-track 


Repeat 1st m< vement 




5 


M a 


Repeat 2d movement 




4 


P. w. 


Series A 1-6 


lbs 


ioe 


a 


Series B 5-7 : 


lbs 


ioe 


L. P. W. 


Nos. 3-6 2 1-: 


lbs 


6e 


H.P. W. 


Nos. 1-4 2 1-: 
Rest 


lbs 


6e 




Time per week — 1 hour daily 





Return to me December 20 



I told her that we observed the law of progression, 
and the flying rings were forbidden until the gymnast 
had developed strength to hold her weight by one 
hand. 



54 HEALTH AND STRENGTH PAPERS. 

The mother still looked askance at the bars, and 
rings, and weights, and pulleys and rowing machines. 
" It seems to me,"she said at last, " that I would rather 
wait and send her into the country to her grand- 
father's farm, and let her get exercise in the natural 
way with out-of-door sports." 

I inquired as to the sports. 

" Why, rowing and lawn tennis, croquet, and 
climbing trees, and romping in the barn." 

■• Have you tried this with her ? " 

"Yes." 

" And she comes home in better condition ? " 

" Well, no" said the mother, turning to me frankly. 
" And that is what I do not understand. She gen- 
erally comes back to town with indigestion — her 
stomach really seems to trouble her more in the 
country than at home." 

" Did you ever attribute this to the exercise she 
took in the country ? " 

" No, that would be absurd, of course. But still, 
it is as I tell you." 

"Well," said I, "your daughter is not the only one 
that suffers more after a summer in the country. 



AT THE GYMNASIUM. 55 

Let us look at these sports you consider so beneficial. 
Rowing — glorious exercise, and producing good 
results if done properly. Your daughter has rowed? " 
"Much/' 

" What was the weight of her boat ? " 
She opened her eyes : " I do not know." 
" Did you ever try it yourself ? " 
" Never. I do not know how to row." 
" Has your daughter ever had instruction ? " 
" No particular instruction. She is quick, and has 
caught the motion from her companions." 
" How about the oars ? " 

She was equaliy ignorant, but the daughter inter- 
posed : " Always awfully heavy." 

"I never vet have found boats, either at the sea- 
shore or on inland ponds, that were sufficiently light 
for, or had oars proportioned to the strength of nine- 
tenths of the girls who attempt to row them. They man- 
age very well, excitement and emulation lending them 
strength, and in many cases escape permanent injury ; 
but it is really reckless. This I have found true in 
my own experience and by observation, that if the 
proper muscles for rowing a boat, or for doing any 



56 HEALTH AND STRENGTH PAPERS. 

other violent exercise, are not well developed, the 
strain of the action will be felt in some weak point ; 
and this, with most of our girls, is the stomach and 
bowels. You see yourself that your daughter is per- 
fectly soft all about the arm and upper back, where 
an oarsman is always hard. She probably has done 
her rowing with her stomach muscles, instead of with 
her arms and back. You may smile incredulously, 
but I have been weak in that region myself, and 
undeveloped in the arms, and have felt the strain just 
there." Turning to the daughter, " Have you 
ever felt your rowing here ? " touching her stomach. 
"Yes, very often ; but I supposed it was all right.'' 
" A very good proof that her boat has injured 
rather than helped her. The muscles of the stomach 
became weakened and strained, and indigestion has 
inevitably followed. Had her beat and oars been 
proportioned to her development, good results would 
have followed; and the only way we can account for 
so many escaping who do the same reckless thing is 
that the exhilaration of the fresh air, the purifying of 
so much blood, helps one to throw off the strain." 
" This is a new idea to me, but it seems sensible." 



AT THE GYMNASIUM, 57 

"Now look at your inconsistency. You will 
let her row a boat which perhaps you have never 
seen, of the weight of which and of the oars you 
have no conception, because custom says ' rowing 
is the thing' — 'tis the fashion, everybody does it — 
and yet are afraid to have her pull these weights 
which are graduated from one pound up, and with 
me standing right by to watch her face, and decide 
how much she can safely bear. But now I will give 
her a breathing exercise to practise at home, and 
when you come again I will talk with you more 
about country sports." 

I placed the girl flat on her back on a mattress, 
with a very low, hard pillow for her head. The pil- 
low did not suit her. 

"What is the matter with it ?" 

" Tis too low." 

" On what do you sleep at home? " 

" On a big bolster and a pillow." 

"One very good reason why your neck has this 
ugly curve forward and why you run your chin for- 
ward. Let me illustrate." I piled several pillows 
on the one she was lying upon. " Now do you see 



58 HEALTH AND STRENGTH PAPERS. 

what it does ? It bends the whole upper part of the 
spine forward, and gives you your bad carriage. 
Your pillow should only be so high as to make the 
head lie even when you lie on your side — just to 
fill in between the edge of the shoulder and the neck." 

While I had been talking with her, she had been 
breathing regularly and correctly, as every one does 
lying on his back with loosened clothing. 

" Now you are breathing correctly," I said, " though 
very weakly ; were I to let you stand you would 
breathe as badly as ever. So I want you to take 
your breathing at present flat on your back." 

I placed my hands just above the waist, on her 
sides, and asked her to take a full breath. The action 
against my hands was very slight, while the chest 
heaved. " Now put your hands firmly on me." I 
took a long, slow inspiration. 

" How r big you grow, and how hard ! " she said. 

The mother tried the same experiment with me 
and with her daughter, much astonished and evi- 
dently pained at the contrast. 

" You see, as Dr. Safford told you, you do not fill 
the lower cells of your lungs with air at all, and so 



AT THE GYMNASIUM. 59 

gradually they are filled up, when every respiration 
should swell them all. These muscles want to become 
more flexible and much firmer. And to make mus- 
cles grow they must have opposition or weight. 
Now the opposition you must use is your hands 
pressed firmly against your waist pretty high up — by 
the floating ribs. The abdominal breathing will 
naturally follow when you breathe strongly in the 
lower chest. Press yourself firmly, but not too hard 
at first ; take a long, slow breath, hold it as long as 
you conveniently can ; then exhaust the air as slowly 
as possible. Let your effort be to push your hands 
out as strongly and as far as you can and hold them 
there still pressing, and your action will be right. 
Do that six times every night and every morning, 
undressed, and with the air of your room as pure as 
possible. It may make you a little dizzy at first, but 
you will soon get over that. It will not hurt you.' , 

Then I gave directions about a proper suit for 
gymnasium work, and bade her come regularly. 



VIII.— KITTY'S CARD. 

ONE bright morning, Miss Kitty again appeared 
with her mother and announced her readiness 
to begin. 

"One thing you must promise," I said, "or I can- 
not take you. You must come regularly. For a 
month — perhaps three or four — I want you an hour 
every day; after that, four times a week will do, 
with what you can' accomplish at home. Irregular 
work at home or in gymnasium does really more 
harm than good." 

The mother, like many another before her, thought 
she should begin with a day or two days each week, 
until she became used to so much exercise. 

I stepped to the pully-weights. " Feel of my arm ! 

See how a few strokes make the muscle swell. If I 

continue this for five minutes, at regular intervals, 

60 



kitty's card. 61 1 

for an hour, to-morrow the muscle will ache and be 
lame. That is natural — I have stretched the fibres. 
They will try to recover their old position. If I let 
them accomplish it by resting long, when I begin 
again they will ache and be lame as at first. But if 
I do not allow any reaction, but the next day do 
the same work and a little more, the fibres become 
flexible and elastic, more and better blood is called 
into them, and they grow firm and strong, and what 
formerly tired seems easy. I notice that those who 
say the gymnasium does not benefit them, are those 
who come irregularly, and do not weather the first 
weariness. You must be prepared to see your daughter 
unusually tired the first week or two, but you must 
not be troubled. 'Tis the result of calling into vig- 
orous action so many unused muscles. And the 
weariness will soon give place to exhilaration ; w T hile 
coming every day will save her from the natural 
reaction which follows unusual exertion." 

While we were talking, Kitty had been getting into 
her costume, and now appeared in the hall ready for 
work. Her mother laughed at her a little. She had 
on a long, loose blouse, with flowing Turkish trowsers, 



62 HEALTH AND STRENGTH PAPERS. 

confined just below the knee, and falling over pretty 
stockings, and light kid Oxford-ties with a very low 
heel, and tied with ribbons of the color of her suit. 
She said, what so many had said before her, " How 
funny I feel ! " and I knew in a day or two she would 
say, what so many had also said before, "I wish I 
could wear it always ! " 

" Well, dear, have you read the enigma of the 
card ? " I said. 

"No. 'Tis worse than any illustrated rebus I 
ever got hold of." 

Taking the card, I said : " Do you notice the broad 
blue line running round the hall ? That is the 
* running-track/ and thirty-nine laps — or times 
round — make a mile. Your first order is to run 
round five times, or about an eighth of a mile. That 
is to rouse the circulation and make you warm, for 
you are dressed thinly, as you should be, because I 
want you to perspire from exercise and not from 
over-dress. Perspiration from exercise is good for 
you, because it opens the pores and carries off the 
waste matter from the system ; perspiration from too 
much clothing exhausts you. You always want to 



kitty's card. 63 

start a run with your lungs full of air, your head 
erect and well thrown back, the chest pressed for- 
ward, and the hips back. If you bend the arms 
at the elbow and double the hand into a fist, you 
will run more easily. Let the arms move freely 
backward and forward as the body sways slight- 
ly from side to side. Now, one ! two ! three ! 
off ! " 

After once round, I stopped her : " You are not 
rwi7iing, you are leaping. You hold yourself wrong. 
You keep your knees stiff and stand erect. Your 
body should incline forward from the toes, and you 
should bend the knee well, giving an easy swing to 
the leg, and strike the floor lightly with the sole 
of the foot, not touching the heel." 

I was in gymnastic dress myself, of course, and 
I ran over the track to show her how. 

"You get the exercise, which is the main point 
just now ; but we will have for our aim pe?-fect run* 
ning. Men laugh at girls and women when they run, 
and I really think they do not believe we can run 
gracefully. But they do not realize the hindrance 
our skirts are, nor how little practice we get. 



64 HEALTH AND STRENGTH PAPERS. 

" The next order on the card is not printed just 
right — it should be $-pound bag. From this pile 
of sand-bags, varying in weight from three pounds to 
seven or eight pounds, select the weight indicated on 
your card — three pounds — and place it upon your 
head. Take careful position, draw the chin back as 
far as possible, keep the eye fixed on something 
directly in front of you and on a level with it, and, as 
in running, press the hips well back and the chest 
forward. That is right. Now walk rapidly. In the 
effort to keep the bag in its place and the head in 
position, all the muscles of the back, with the spine 
itself, are brought into action." 

Miss Kitty was a plucky little damsel, and the 
four times were accomplished, though with various 
mishaps to the bag. 

" With the running and walking, you have accom- 
plished nearly a quarter of a mile. Now come to 
the pulley-weights, which ' P. W.' stands for. These, 
one of our prominent and most skilled body-devel- 
opers calls the bread-and-butter of body culture. 
By their aid we can call into action all the great 
muscles and many of the smaller. The other ap« 



kitty's card. 65 

paratus will enable you to utilize the development 
you gain by the use of these. You see we have 
various series of movements printed and pasted 
against the machines. The movements of ' Series 
B' are for both hands; and the four — '1 — 4' 
strengthen and make symmetrical the upper arm. 
Until you grow firm and elastic here, you will be 
unable to use the other apparatus. Let me show 
you what I mean." 

I went to the parallel bars, put a hand on each, 
and sprang into them, holding my weight suspended 
at arms' length, my hands by my hips and the arms 
parallel to the sides. I asked the astonished Kitty 
to follow me. She could not. 

" Well, climb up in some way." 

This, with considerable exertion and much awk- 
wardness, she succeeded in doing, sitting upon one 
bar. 

" Now swing yourself in as I was, and I will hold 
you." 

This took all my strength, and when I let go, she came 
tumbling upon the mat below. Her mother looked 
on with interest and acknowledged the weakness. 



66 HEALTH AND STRENGTH PAPERS. 

" Few men can understand how very small a 
woman's muscular force is," I said. " Many women 
who lift their babies from the floor, do it liable to a 
strain any minute ; the energy is nervous, not 
muscular. The average boy eight, yes, six years 
old, can hold his weight, and maintain himself in 
positions few women can even take, but this does not 
in the least imply that muscular force cannot be 
developed at every age ; though of course, the 
younger, the better and quicker. Active and well- 
trained muscles mean harmonious development, 
beautiful lines and curves, and health" 

While we were talking, Kitty had been taking her 
movements, counting on each, until she reached the 
number on her card, 20. Making her put one 
hand on the acting muscle, she discovered, much to 
her satisfaction, that numbers 1 and 3 made the 
tiny one on the upper part of the arm swell, 
while 2 and 4 worked the under muscle — the 
former the biceps, the latter the triceps. 

" We will watch and see what six months will do 
for this arm, not only in power, but in looks," I said. 

Moving from the weights to the u shoulder-bars," 



kitty's card. 67 

she found them to be two upright poles placed apart 
the width of an ordinary adult's shoulders. 

" Place your hands," I directed, " one on each bar, 
so that the forearm is nearly horizontal, stand about 
ten inches from them, hold the body perfectly stiff, 
bending only at the ankles, and swing as far through 
as possible. " 

"Oh," she cried out at once; "it hurts — right 
here," indicating the chest near the shoulder. 

" Exactly ! that's where I want it to hurt until that 
chest can swell more to the front and grow bigger and 
rounder." 

" What is No. 2 ? " 

" Brace your toes firmly against each bar, fall back 
as far as possible, holding securely by the hands 
placed low down on the bars, then bend the knees and 
recover. Where do you feel that ? " 

" All across the back of my shoulders." 

" Very good. We'll begin to strengthen the upper 
part of your back and then work down. The rowing- 
machine will supplement this movement. What next ? " 

" A breathing movement," answered the rosy and 
panting Kitty. 



68 HEALTH AND STRENGTH PAPERS. 

" Lie flat on your back on this mattress, look right 
at me, take as full a breath f as you can, hold it while 
I count ten; exhaust it, inhale again and hold while I 
count twelve ; exhaust, inhale and hold while I count 
fifteen. There, that last breath was the best you 
have given me, because you got really interested in 
what we were doing and let nature do as she pleased, 
so you didn't raise your shoulders, and your diaphragm 
— that little muscular partition on which your lungs 
rest, was pushed down until the abdominal muscles 
swelled out, and then the sides did the same, so that 
you breathed to the bottom of the lungs. Instead of 
my counting, you may count for yourself and go 
through the same operation twice more." 

This she did with tolerable results. 

" One thing more, and then resting-time comes." 

"I'm not a bit tired." 

" You cannot tell about that till to-morrow. Should 
I let you do all you want to, you would be exhausted 
to-morrow, and that would be bad. I want to get 
you just tired enough to go home, get a good bowl of 
soup, and take a long delicious nap. This thing that 
works like a big crab is the rowing-machine. Can 



kitty's card. 69 

you manage to get into it ? Take the oars and pull 
back. Tis too heavy for you : I will alter it. You 
see," turning to the mother, " we do not allow heavy 
boats here." She caught the allusion and smiled, 
already half convinced of the good of systematic 
work. 

" Now pull back and push the seat back, and for- 
ward, bringing the seat forward too. No, open or 
separate the knees when you come forward, as your 
card orders : thus you get action in the inner leg and 
about the groin. Now you have it very well. Count 
your strokes, and imagine yourself gliding up the 
beautiful Charles under the overhanging branches. 
Twenty-five good strokes — those have brought into 
play the muscles of the forearm and the upper back, 
with many minor ones. Now stretch yourself on your 
back on that mattress with one little pillow, throw your 
wrap over you and rest five minutes quietly. In the 
mean time your mother and I will talk a little of 
country sports. " 



IX.— MORE OF KITTY'S CARD WORK. 

AS Kitty lay resting on the mattress, her mother 
remarked that she did not seem tired. 

" She is excited now," I said, " but she will be well 
tired to-night. I want her to be tired enough to lie 
on the lounge half the evening from physical weari- 
ness. The rest from that kind of exhaustion is a part of 
the general plan. Before she goes, the tiredness will 
be spread equally upon every muscle, and the resting 
will be harmonious and delightful to her." 

"I have thought much," she said, "of our conver- 
sation about the boat, and have been wondering 
whether you approved of tennis and croquet." 

" All out-of-door games are excellent, if one is pre- 
pared for them. They keep girls in the open air, 
which counterbalances certain evils. There is one 

objection, as a means of development, to them all, as 

70 



MORE OF KITTY'S CARD WORK. 71 

played at present. The work is all done with the 
right hand." 

" Is that a serious thing ?" 

"Does it not seem serious when, for practical pur- 
poses, we are one-handed? Have you read Charles 
Kingsley's The Coming Man? —No? Read it, and 
you will see what a serious matter /^ considers it. As 
he says, if a child accidentally takes a plaything or 
knife, or any other tool, in his left hand, as though he 
meant to keep it there and use it, it is taken out by 
his mother or teacher, and transferred to the other 
hand. As a consequence, most of us are extremely 
awkward with our left hand, and also, consequently, 
the left side is dwarfed. Measurements in most cases 
show the left side to be smaller than the right. Now 
the great interest and exhilaration of these games is 
the competition ; hence, every player must do his best, 
and his right hand alone he is master of, so what is 
already good is made better, while the poor helpless 
left hand grows more so. Croquet seems a harmless 
game, with little exertion in it, and yet I have had a 
little girl with one shoulder decidedly lower than the 
other, which her mother attributed to playing croquet. 



72 HEALTH AND STRENGTH PAPERS. 

Tennis is open to greater objection in the same 
points, because it is much more violent. It is so 
very vigorous a game that beginners work much 
harder than old players, and there is plenty of scope 
for over-exertion, which is the objection brought against 
gymnasiums." 

" Do you overcome that objection of one-sided 
and one-handed development here ? " asked Kitty's 
mother. 

"We require everything done with each hand. 
Necessarily, with the light apparatus each hand holds 
a piece of equal weight ; but with the graduated pul- 
ley-weights we make the left hand do enough more 
work to develop it, until it is equal to its mate. Ring- 
swinging and ladder-work make an equal demand on 
each hand, and the vault is made both to the right 
and left. Bowling is delightful exercise, and ought 
to take in the left hand, and the game be made a 
powerful engine of grace in action; but, as I said, 
competition throws games outside the list as harmo- 
nious body-developers." 

Kitty's five minutes had expired, and she had been 
perched near listening to us, but evidently impatient 



MORE OF KITTY ? S CARD WORK. 73 

to continue her work. " Well, what next ? " I asked. 

" Pulley-weight again, series D." 

" These are all chest-developers," I explained to her 
mother, " and there are two more in the series which 
we will take later. Stand with your back to the 
weights, pull directly to the front, then let the weights 
draw the arms back as far as they will go, at the same 
time turning the shoulders backward." 

"So?" 

" No, your action comes only on the arms, and 
amounts to little. You do not get the shoulders 
back. See how nearly horizontally backward your 
arms go ! Now, see mine ! See the swell of my chest ! 
See where my shoulder-blades are ! " 

Kitty looked at me and practised, looked again and 
practised, until at last she cried triumphantly, " Now 
it pulls on my chest ! " 

" The next movement is the same, except that you 
rise on the toes, which exercises the calf of the leg." 

"And what's No. 3 for?" asked Kitty, evidently 
taking great pride in swelling her chest. 

"The same in its action on the chest, but changes 
that on the arm by turning the hand over. Just that 



74 HEALTH AND STRENGTH PAPERS. 

simple action brings other muscles into play. No. 4 
is the same again, only rising on the toes." 

"What's the last?" 

"Turn the hands to the first position, bend the 
elbows, make a sort of scooping motion forward, then 
let them back firmly, without a jerk, and all the time 
keep the lungs as full as possible." 

"Just so," said Kitty. "I guess that took in some 
new muscles." 

"Now for the rowing weights," said Kitty; " I've 
s been aching to get at them." 

So I stationed her on the sliding seats. " Seat 
yourself firmly," I said, "then grasp the handle. 
Hold it close at waist with chest pressed forward; 
now slide the seat backward and forward, opening and 
closing the knees." 

The second time Kitty came forward she left her 
seat behind her, and sat down with a laugh on the 
support. " I can't keep on ! " she said. 

"We all go through that," I said; "you must cling 
more closely." 

" In No. 2, bend the body forward and grasp the han- 
dle at the weight, keep the seat firm and draw the weight 



MORE OF KITTY'S CARD WORK, 75 

to the waist, forward and back, until you sit erect." 

" I like that," said Kitty, sparkling at me. "What 
next ? " 

" Combine Nos. i and 2, bend forward and back, 
and also move the seat. No. 4 is similar to No. 3, 
except that you lean as far back as you can, then re- 
cover, and go as far forward as possible. This is 
the most vigorous. All these movements act upon 
both the back and abdominal muscles." 

"I feel 'em," said Kitty bravely. "Now where is 
the wrist-bar ? " 

"This horizontal bar, by winding which in different 
ways you lift a weight high toward the wall. These 
strengthen hand and wrist — give you a good grip, 
that will help you very much in all your gymnasium 
work, make your piano-practice much easier, and 
should you ever be caught on a A T arraga?isett, or 
some other disabled vessel, you will be able to cling 
to ropes until you can reach the boats below, as many, 
many ladies cannot." 

"I am gladdest about the piano just now," said 
Kitty. "My wrists ache so when. I practise, and my 
ringers are so weak ! " 



76 HEALTH AND STRENGTH PAPERS. 

" These intermediate exercises, the alternate ones, 
are for the development of the calf and thigh, and 
are inserted here as a rest to the hands : The first, 
rising on the toes ; the second, settling back on the 
heels, raising the toes." 

" What fun this spring stand is ! It seem as though 
one could be sent up to the moon, if he were only a 
little heavier to bear it down more. And it looks like 
such fun when they vault the bar from it. See me, 
mother ! " 

Kitty's mother smiled doubtfully, as if she saw in 
her aroused child the possibility of a circus girl. 

" That will give lightness of action in walking. 
These rings you swing in by your hands are fine for 
the muscles of the back and for the spine. Run, and 
swing as high as you can, touching your feet each 
time to carry you higher. Then simply hang as long 
as you can hold. If you like you can put your feet in 
and swing also." But Kitty was not quite agile 
enough for this as yet. 

"This next," she said, "is just like the other 
breathing movement." 

" No. I want you in this to put your hands under 



MORE OF KITTY S CARD WORK. 77 

you as you lie on your back — arms down straight, sit 
on the back of your hands, turn the elbows and 
shoulders under you as far as possible, and project the 
chest Take a full breath, and at the same time press 
with the elbows and head, and raise the back a little. 
I always feel as though I am gaining in various ways 
when I do that." 

" This is hard work," said Kitty, looking a little 
disgusted for the first time; " I seem to get my lungs 
very full of air that way. When do you suppose I 
can use those rings ? " she added, as a young girl 
swung gracefully down the line, seeming almost to fly. 

"You must get those biceps muscles in better con- 
dition first, and the next weight-work will help the 
hanging muscles. Now you have reached another 
resting point." Down went Kitty on the mattress 
again. 



X. — LAST GLANCES AT KITTY. 

NOW for some more ' bread and butter' work," 
I said, going to the pulleys again after the 
rest, and a moment's walking and running. "This 
series, A, takes in single movements for each hand. 
No. i, stand with your right side to weight, and pull 
with stiff elbow toward the left by the front ; No. 2, by 
the back ; No. 3 alternates the two movements ; Nos. 
4, 5 and 6 are the same movements with the left 
hand." 

"What for?" said Kitty. 

" No. 1 strengthens the pectoral muscle. Put your 
hand just under your arm in front. Do you feel the 
swelling? No. 2 does the same for the muscle at 
the back — just under the arm you feel it. Those 
are muscles used in climbing and in hanging on." 

" Series B, I have had before." 

78 



LAST GLANCES AT KITTY. 79 

"Only the first movements. In No. 5, you pull 
both strongly to the back by the side, swelling the 
chest well forward — that helps the back away down. 
Put your fingers just below the bottom of my waist. 
Do you feel the working of the muscle ? That spot 
is just where so many girls ache. Tis frequently 
merely muscular; though when more serious, the pain 
is caused by weakness of internal organs. This 
movement relieves it if muscular, and strengthens if 
more serious. No. 7 : pull as near to the floor as you 
can without bending the knees. You cannot quite 
touch the floor? Well, don't try too hard for it, or 
you may be very lame. Only two more movements 
now, and then I am going to send you home. To- 
morrow I will sit by and see how much you remember. 
The ' L. P. W. ' is this pulley so near the floor. The 
first movements develop the leg muscles, but, as I 
want to work, for awhile, more particularly upon your 
chest, I have omitted them for the present. No. 3 : 
lie flat on your back on this cushion, grasp the handle 
at arms' length over the head, and draw the handle to 
the vertical over the head ; at the same time take a 
full breath. See, now, how finely the ribs are raised 



80 HEALTH AND STRENGTH PAPERS. 

by that position of the hands, so that the air inhaled 
can act upon the flexible, boneless part of the body. 
No. 4 : leave the handle, press the hands firmly 
against the sides and take a long deep breath, pushing 
the sides out hard against the hands — hold it as long 
as possible, then exhaust slowly. Repeat as many 
times as your card indicates. No. 5 : place this toe- 
piece on the floor, put the toes through the strap, 
pull on the toes and raise the body to the vertical." 

"Oh, I've done that hundreds of times," said Kitty; 
"don't need the toe-strap. See here!" and up she 
came. 

"Yes, almost anybody can do so," I said, "and 
little good has been accomplished by such doing. 
Now notice me, Kitty ! " I lay down, held my body 
perfectly stiff, and rose, my head being the last to leave 
the mat. Then I rolled up, lifting my head first, as 
she did, " Do you see the difference ? " She thought 
she did ; and when she tried it in my way, she was 
sure of a very great difference. Putting her hands 
on her abdomen she felt the great tightening of the 
muscle. " And that's where you need help," I said. 
€i You are too soft and flabby, and the muscles do not 



LAST GLANCES AT KITTY. 8 1 

support the ligaments of organs attached to them. 
No. 6 : swing the toes out from the strap and raise 
both legs to the vertical. That is another way of 
strengthening the same parts. " 

" * H. P. W.' " said Kitty, with a long breath, and 
looking about : " don't that mean that machine with 
the high pulley?" 

"Yes, the 'giant pulley/ The movements with it 
strengthen the back and all the muscles about the 
waist. No. i : stand firmly, facing the weight, with 
stiff elbow pull as low as the waist, then well over the 
head. That helps the lower part of the back — what 
people call the ' small of the back.' The next move- 
ment is similar, only you touch the floor, if possible, 
without bending the knees, then recover and pull 
over the head. You will feel that movement on the 
back of the thigh." 

"What lots of different movements ! " exclaimed 
Kitty ; " must be as many as there are muscles." 

" Nos. 3 and 4 are similar movements, only the 
back is turned to the weight." 

" I don't see what difference that makes," said 
Kitty, " if ycu're doing the same thing." 



82 HEALTH AND STRENGTH PAPERS. 

" See ! facing it, I am pulling the weight over my 
head, exercising back muscles ; backing it, the weight 
is pulling me, and the front muscles are working." 

"Oh, yes!" said Kitty. "What a network of 
muscles ! I never thought there was any muscle to 
speak of, except on a boy's forearm. " 

" Now we have reached the end of the card. After 
your rest, go into your dressing-room, take a quick 
sponging down, and rub yourself with a coarse towel. 
That will take off the perspiration, close the pores, 
and prevent your taking cold." 

" Cold water when she is so heated ? " asked the 
mother anxiously. 

" You need never fear cold water when the blood is 
flowing freely to every part, as with my young gym- 
nasts at the close of lessons. Much waste matter has 
passed off through the pores, and they should now be 
contracted. I should not advocate a plunge bath, 
though I believe many men take one after exer- 
cise." 

" I have never allowed Kitty a full bath of cold 
water," said she. 

"And she is not subject to colds ? " 



LAST GLANCES AT KITTY. 83 

" Oh, very ! I have always had to watch her. She 
takes cold at a breath." 

" I wish you would try a cold chest-bath every day 
for a month. I think you will find a change in this 
matter of catching cold." 

"I may," she said with a laugh; "you and Dr. 
Safford are upsetting all my notions of advisability and 
unadvisability. I don't know what I may end in doing." 

Kitty seemed in good condition when she came next 
day, and went through her work laughing at her many 
mistakes gleefully ; her hands were white, soft and 
warm, and her cheeks pink, before she went home 
again. 

She is one of my most persistent little workers, and 
seems to feel how much power health is to give her in her 
studies, and in everything she may wish to undertake 
all through life. Her mother has not to prepare some 
dainty to tempt her to eat — she "likes everything." 
In two months she gained almost as much as another 
little girl who came to me in March, hollow-chested, 
white-lipped, with no life or energy ; she gained six- 
teen pounds before our closing time, the first of June, 
added another ten pounds during the summer, ex- 



84 HEALTH AND STRENGTH PAPERS. 

panded her chest, hardened her flesh, and has been 
one of my jolliest workers all winter. 

One day in January after two months or more of 
hard, faithful individual work, I gave way before 
Kitty's wistful eyes and put her in a "class." 

" And what did she do in t class ■ ? ** I hear some 
reader say. She must be far from Boston or she 
would have been to see. I must tell her, for the 
" class " have a jolly time. 

There goes the piano — do you see the scampering? 
'Twas the signal for the lesson to begin, and many 
had hurried into their costumes to have some fun in 
the hall before regular work. Out they go now into the 
ante-room, and when the music of a march begins, in 
they come again, sedately, each making a curtesy or 
bow in passing the teacher. Each finds an appointed 
place on the floor and takes position : heels together, 
hips back, chest well to the front, chin brought in, 
hands on the hips. Then the piano strikes up and a 
series of movements similar to those given in an 
earlier " Health and Strength Paper " is quickly ex- 
ecuted, taking about four minutes. Now they are 
fairly awake, the blood circulating freely, and they have 



LAST GLANCES AT KITTY. 85 

gained a certain amount of precision which is another 
valuable feature of class gymnastics — the ability to 
perform a certain act strictly in time — the mind and 
muscle learning to act simultaneously, a most valuable 
acquirement and one which is to be felt all through 
the mental and social action of after-life. Now the 
player strikes into a bright march, and, by two quick 
movements the whole class has formed into two or 
three lines, and, beginning the march, soon come into 
one long line. Now follow various manoeuvres to help 
in walking gracefully and lightly. Now they are on 
their toes, now on their heels ; now on one toe and 
the other heel ; then they reverse the latter ; now 
they walk stooping low, with spines erect ; now they 
walk like high-stepping horses; this changes to a hop 
on one foot four times, then on the other, then twice. 
Soon the music changes to a slow time, and each step 
is thoughtfully taken with the toe touching the floor 
strongly first, so that they will learn to avoid the bad 
habit of striking the heel so heavily. Following this 
comes the order to "run with mouths closed," and 
away they go ! Then they come again into place with 
iron dumb-bells. 



86 HEALTH AND STRENGTH PAPERS. 

" Dumb-bells for girls? What do they weigh ?" 
Two and three pounds. The weak-wristed use 
light wooden ones. These movements are slow r and 
measured, and when the bells are returned to place, 
"Rest!" is the order, and they throw themselves at 
full length on the mats, or sit in groups. Vaulting is 
next in order — here they come over the bar like so 
many sheep. Now they take the spring-board — see 
how high they fly ! Yes, that little girl clears five feet, 
and descends lightly on the mat below. That gives 
her courage, both of body and mind, spring, elasticity 
strength of arm and grip, and helps her to carry her- 
self lightly in walking. 

Again the piano signal. We have a quick exercise 
in wooden bells, or later in the year in clubs, the 
movements with which are beautiful as a spectacle, 
and so valuable as exercise. Then perhaps a series 
of weight-work executed to music ; or, if there is not 
time, the order to " Play ! " is given. Now there is no 
hesitation ; each gymnast springs for the piece of ap- 
paratus liked best. The ladders swarm with them, 
walking on hands up verticals, down inclines, across 
horizontals, swinging on bars, shinning to the top of 



LAST GLANCES AT KITTY. 87 

the hall, climbing ropes, walking the parallel-bars, 
throwing light balls, circling the bar, swinging down 
the line of rings — there go two girls together, down 
the rings, back to back, and breast to breast. Isn't 
that graceful and pretty ? There ! one has lost the 
ring, and they quietly separate, each going her own 
way. Now they follow each other, six or eight of 
them, down the line, dropping at the end. This, per- 
haps, is followed by a brisk, competitive game with 
bean-bags; and a double march down the sides of 
the hall, forming into fours in the middle with % skip- 
ping and fancy steps, closes the lesson, and the good- 
by and curtesy send them all into the dressing-rooms 
for sponging and street dress. 

More than one mother has stood by to acquaint her- 
self with it all. Kitty's mother has looked on with 
bright eyes. One enthusiastic woman says, "The 
State should establish the gymnasium alongside the 
public school. " 

" And attendance should be compulsory" says a grave 
teacher sitting near. "Until the educator of the 
mind and the educator of the body work side by side, 
and universally, the nation will never get any full and 



88 HEALTH AND STRENGTH PAPERS. 

harmonious returns from the immense capital of 
brains and money expended in our schools. But 
private enthusiasm and personal conviction cannot 
accomplish it — the State must take it in hand." 
These speakers are right. 



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Communion Sabbath. i2mo, cloth, $1.25. 

Catherine. i2mo, cloth, $1.25. 

Cross in the Cell. 121110, cloth, $1.00. 

Endless Punishment. i2mo, cloth, $1.00. 

Evenings with the Doctrines. i2mo, cloth, $1.00. 

Friends of Christ. 121110, cloth, $1.00. 

Under the Mizzen-mast. i2mo, cloth, illust., $1.00. 

Lydia Maria Child. 

Jamie and Jennie. i6mo, cloth, illust, $.75. 
Boy's Heaven. i6mo, cloth, illust., $.75. 
Making Something. i6mo, cloth, illust., $.75. 
Good Little Mittie. i6mo, cloth, illust., $.75. 
The Christ Child. i6mo, cloth, illust.,$75. 

Col. Russell H. Conwell. 

Bayard Taylor. i2mo, cloth, illust., $1.50. 

Lizzie W. Champney. 

Entertainments i2mo, cloth, illust., $1.00. 



"PANSY" BOOKS. 

Probably no living author has exerted an influence upor *b%> 
American "people at large, at all comparable with Pansy's. Thou- 
sands upon thousands of families read her books every week, anu 
the effect in the direction of right feeling, right thinking, and 
right living is incalculable. 

Each volume 12mo. Cloth. Price, SI. 50. 
Four Girls at Chautauqua. Modern Prophets. 
Chautauqua Girls at Home. Echoing and Re-echoing. 
Ruth Erskine's Crosses. Those Boys. 
Ester Ried. The Randolphs. 

Julia Ried. Tip Lewis. 

King's Daughter. Sidney Martin's Christmas. 

Wise and Otherwise. Divers Women. 

Ester Ried " Yet Speaking. " A New Graft. 
Links in Rebecca's Life. The Pocket Measure. 
From Different Stand- Mrs. Solomon Smith. 

Three People. [points. The Hall in the Grove. 

Household Puzzles. Man of the House. 

An Endless Chain. 

Each volume 12mo. Cloth. Price, $1.25. 
Cunning Workmen. Miss Priscilla Hunter and 

Grandpa's Darling. My Daughter Susan. 

Mrs. Dean's Way. What She Said and 

Dr. Dean's Way. People who Haven't Time. 

Each volume 16mo. Cloth. Price, $1.00. 
Next Things. Mrs. Harry Harper's 

Pansy Scrap Book. Awakening. 

Five Friends. New Year's Tangles. 

Some Young Heroines. 

Each volume 16mo. Cloth. Price, $.75. 
Getting Ahead. Jessie Wells. 

Two Boys. Docia's Journal. 

Six Little Girls. Helen Lester. 

Pansies. Bernie's White Chicken. 

That Boy Bob. Mary Burton Abroad. 

Side by Side. Price, % $.60. 

The Little Pansy Series, 10 vols. Boards, $3.00. Cloth, $4.06. 

Mother's Boys and Girls' Library, 12 vols. Quarto Boards, $3.00 

Pansy Primary Library, 30 vol. Cloth. Price, $7.50. 

Half Hour Library. Octavo, 8 vols. Price, $3.20. 



NEW P UBL TC: 1 TIOJSTS. 



SOLDIER AND SERVANT.* 

In this really fascinating story of girl life at 
home and at school, Miss Ella M. Baker gives 
proof of her ability to do most acceptable and credi- 
table work as an author. Lisle Knight, the heroine, 
is a character drawn with great naturalness, and 
posses>ed of traits which will win for her the love 
and admiration of all readers. Soldier and Servant 
is a motto bequeathed to her by the mother v\ho 
di^d when she was a babe, and which she early 
adopts, in very earnest, carrying its sentiment into 
all of the acts of her after life. And a sweet, pure 
and helpful life it is, and its story will most 
assuredly furnish wholesome stimulus to every girl 
who reads it. In the school-life of Lisle, which is in- 
vested with rare interest, there are touches of humor, 
and graphic descriptions which are worthy of com- 
parison with passages in Tom Brown's Schooldays, 



COOKERY FOR BEGINNERS, t 
The title of this book, with Marion Harlan d' 8 
name as author, to most readers, will be a suffi- 
cient indication of its character and genuine 
value. The previous efforts of the author in 
this inviting field of instruction are suggestive 
of all that is appetizing, dainty, and wholesome 
in the way of home fare. It has been a fault, 
however, of her previous books, common to most 
others of the class, that tliey have taken for granted 
the possession of a certain degree of knowledge 
requisite to their successful use, not always possessed 
by those attempting to use them. This book, while 
affording a range of information unsurpassed by 
any other hook, is suited to the use of all. 

"Beginners" will, therefore, welcome the book 
as one whose explicit and careful directions will 
enable them to avoid the mistakes which lead to 
mortifying failures — young wives will make a note 
of this — and those more experienced will find it 
not less valuable because it is especially adapted to 
the wants of those who have their experience yet to 
gain. When the opportunity is offered in such 
tempting form, " our girls " should add to their ac- 
complishments in art and music, that of cookery. 

* Soldier and Servant. By Ella M. Baker. Boston : D. Loth- 
rop & Co. Price, $1.25. 

t Cookery for Beginners. By Marion Harland.' Boston; D. 
Lothrop & Co. Price, $i.oq. 



NEW PUBLICATIONS. 



LIFE OF OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES.* 
There can hardly be a more welcome addition to 
biographical literature, than the delightfully enter- 
taining story of the life of the author of The Auto- 
crat at the Breakfast-Table, as told by E. E. Brown 
in this attractive volume. Doctor Holmes is one of 
the few names in American literature which. has 
come to have a meaning apart from the literary pro- 
ductions with which it is connected. The remark- 
able personality of the man who has been for two 
score years a centre for the wide radiation of genial 
influences, has impressed itself upon the mind of 
his time, as has been the case with few r authors. 

The author of this book, with an evident reali- 
zation of this fact, has given us a biography in 
which the man and the writer are distinctly por- 
trayed, and in a manner so discriminating and 
appreciative as to leave little to be desired. Great 
value is added to the book by the fact that it has 
the sanction of Doctor Holmes, who has furnished to 
its author an interesting fund of fresh material. 



RECOLLECTIONS OF AN OCTOGENARIAN. t 
An unusual interest attaches to the retrospective 
views of men advanced in years who have seen 
much of life, and have mingled largely in its affairs. 
This book, which is a most pleasing, entertaining, 
and, withal, instructive presentation of its Octogen- 
arian author's — Henry Hill's — recollections, is by 
no means an exception to the rule. Beginning with 
life on the Hudson in 1796, w r e are treated to chap- 
ters on New York in 1812, New Jersey in 1814, a 
voyage to England, France, Belgium and Holland 
in 1815 and 1816; a subsequent journey to the West 
Indies; and journeys to Chili and Buenos Ayres 
and across the Andes in 1817 and 1821, with 
various other journeyings and affairs of bygone 
times, all of which, to the reader of to-day, are 
interesting as indicating the marvellous changes 
wrought in the years which have passed since the 
author's experiences became recollections. His 
personal recollections of the noted men of his day, 
in America and Europe, are most interesting. 

* Life of Oliver Wendell Holmes. Ey E. E. Brown. Boston: 
D. Lothrop & Co. Price, $1.50. 

t Recollections of an Octogenarian. By Henry Hill. Boston: 
D. L'othrop & Co. Price, 75 cents. 



RECENT PUBLICATIONS. 



Hill, Rest. By Susan W. Moulton. Boston : 
P. Lothrop & Co. A charming story throbbing 
with intense life; genuine life too, in the bright, 
gay circle of Hill Rest, and in the wretched hovels 
of Heath vale as well. The heroine, dear little 
Elsie Grey, is genuine flesh and blood, loving pleas- 
ure and all beautiful things, and having a hard 
fight of it to be true to religious convictions in the 
face of manifold temptations. But her very struggles 
impart a charm to her character. Her warm sym- 
pathies with the gay life of a fashionable circle, give 
her power with the thoughtless and fun-loving, and 
her fidelity to duty compels their esteem and wins 
them to a better life. The pathos of the tragic 
death of poor Leo me Dudley is a dark background 
to the wit and merriment constituting the happy 
life at Hill Rest. The story is fresh and sparkling, 
and the religious lessons healthy and natural. 
Price, $1.25. 

The Banker of Bedford. By John R. Mustek. 
Boston : D. Lothrop & Co. Price $1.00. Here is 
a story* which, though in no sense sensational, is 
unusually full of exciting incident. The banker, 
Rodney Slyman, is one of those smooth-faced 
hypocritical men who cloak their evil deeds under 
the guise of religion, and go on robbing the poor 
and swindling their neighbors until the inevitable 
exposure comes, when they go down, dragging their 
victims with them. A fair specimen of this type, 
Slyman at first builds up a reputation for benevo- 
lence and fair dealing, and his bank is made the 
depository of the savings of nearly every one in 
the little community in which he resides. At last 
the crash comes, and he is obliged to fly from the 
fury of those who have been ruined by him. 
The failure is not an honest one, however, for he 
has concealed a large amount of money. His 
secret is discovered through the agency of a vil- 
lage street Arab, and he is forced to disgorge the 
sums he has stolen. He lias also concealed a large 
amount of money left in trust to him for his broth- 
ers cMld, which is also brought to light in a prov- 
idential manner. But the main interest of the 
book is centered in two children, the niece and 
nephew of Slyman, who, until the failure of the 
banker, are unaware of their relation to him and to 
each other. 



RECENT PUBLICATIONS. 



Our Little Men and Women. Boston : D. 
Lothrop & Co. Price $1.00. The title of the 
magazine from which this delightful book bor- 
rows its name, is happily chosen, and is suggestive 
of what may be expected of boys and girls who are 
so fortunate as to be supplied with the kind of read- 
ing here afforded. The inculcation of manly and 
womanly qualities and virtues cannot commence 
too early; and to make little men and women of the 
young people in our households, need not take from 
them any whit of that which makes childhood the 
delightful thing it is. 

The provision of choice literature for children is 
a matter to which D. Lothrop & Co. have given the 
best energies of a successful business career, and 
they can point with honorable pride to the results 
of their work, as seen in the world-wide circulation 
of books and magazines, representing the best work 
of authors, artists, printers and binders, designed 
especially for the benefit of the young. 

Good reading is one of the best helps to the forma- 
tion of right character. Of few great publishing 
houses can it be affirmed, as of D. Lothrop & Co., 
that in reading for young or old, they publish only 
that which is, in the highest sense of the word, the 
best. Among juvenile magazines, nothing was 
ever offered which is at all comparable with that 
delight of the nursery, Little Men and Women, 
which just hits the needs of children too young for 
Wide Awake, and too old for Babyland. With 
its songs, stories, and pictures, its heavy white 
paper, and its handsome large type, no wonder that 
it fascinates the juveniles. It proposes to enter the 
new year with an increase of attractions, which is 
promise enough that it will continue to hold its 
place as the very best, and assuredly the most popu- 
lar publication of its kind. The Bound Volume 
for 1833 is now ready in a handsome binding. 



NEW PUBLICATIONS. 



RIGHT TO THE POINT.* 
If this volume were entitled "Doctor Curler's 
best Sayings" it would need no other introduction 
to the public. Bight to the Point, however, aptly 
describes one of the chief characteristics of the tell- 
ing utterances which fall from the lips of this 
beloved and useful Brooklyn pastor, and is a good 
title. The book contains a large number of pithy 
paragraphs upon a wide range of subjects, care- 
fully selected by Mary Stoirs Haynes, not one 
of which but will be found to contain some terse, 
vivacious, sparkling expression of truth, worthy of 
the reader's attention. Rev. Newman Hall fur- 
nishes an appreciative introduction, which is 
followed by a brief, but complete biography of 
Doctor Cuvler, which will be regarded as a welcome 
feature of the book by very many readers. 



THE HOTEL OF GOD.t 

The Hotel of God. and other Sermons. By J. E. 
Rankin, D. D., of Washington, D. C. For fourteen 
years Doctor Rankin has occupied one of the most 
prominent and influential pulpits in the country. 
He has built up the largest church in the Nation's 
Capital, and one of the largest churches in the de- 
nomination, a church where the broadest views of 
human brotherhood have been both proclaimed and 
illustrated. This volume contains some of the ser- 
mons of his last years pastorate, and will be not 
less acceptable than his previous books. 

The Advance says: ''Doctor J. E. Rankin has 
had throughout his ministry eminent success, both 
as a preacher and pastor. He is a man who knows 
well what the Gospel truth is for. He understands 
with unusual clearness and steadiness of perception 
exactly what human wants it is meant to meet. 
His sermons interest, and they edify. If need be, 
and some outrageous wrong is to be attacked, he 
can handle guns that throw heavy shot, straight 
and fast. The constant passion of his life is to do 
that which is inost effective in the cure of souls." 

* Right to the Point. From the writings of Theodore Cuvler, 
D. D. Selected by Mary Storrs Haynes. Introduction bv Rev. 
Newman Hall, LL. B.' Sixth volume of the Spare Minute 
Series. Boston: D. Lothrop & Co. Price, $1.00. 

-tThe Hotel of God. By Rev. J. E. Rankin. Boston: D. 
Lothrop & Co. Price, $1.25. 



KECENT PUBLICATIONS 



John Angelo at the Water Color Exhibi- 
tion. By Lizzie W. Champney. Boston: D. 
Lothrop & Co. Price $1.00. This is a collection 
of forty or fifty drawings by American artists rep- 
resenting the pictures exhibited by them at the late 
Water Color Exhibition in New York, such as 
Swain, Gifford, C. S. Iteinhart, Thomas Hovenden, 
Smillie, Satterlee, Nicoll, Arthur Quartley, Edward 
and Percy Moran, Walter Shir] aw, J. G. Brown, 
Geo. Edwards, Harry Fenn, Chase, Currier, Thul- 
strap, Parsons, and others of equal reputation, and 
to the lover of art is one of the important books of 
the season. 

Self Giving. By W. F. Bainbridge. Boston : 
D. Lothrop & Co. Price $1.50. Mr. Bainbridge has 
already made his mark in literature in Around the 
World Tour of Christian Missions and Along the 
Lines in Front To these he now adds the present 
volume, which is, in effect, a treatment of the same 
general subject, not from a different standpoint, but 
in a different manner, and one which enables him 
to discuss certain points more freely than in any 
other form. Upon this point the author says that 
after the two books referred to had been given to the 
world, his thoughts were restless over a growing 
conviction of incomplete work upon missions. 
The. duty and privilege of direct recital had been 
discharged, but there remained much untold of in- 
terest and profit to the public and helpful to the 
cause, that would require, however, a veil of fiction 
to the extent of concealing many names and loca- 
tions, and of disassociating many home references. 
He determined, therefore, upon the form of a story, 
in which he has drawn upon his imagination only 
so far as to relieve embarrassment on the part of 
a large number of missionaries and executive offi- 
cers, who would recognize many scenes and inci- 
dents in their own lives, and many questions of 
mission policy which are either kept from the 
public, or very unsatisfactorily considered, because 
of various personal susceptibilities and ambitions. 
The book, enables the writer to say with freedom, , 
under the guise of fiction, what could not have been 
said in a personal account of his observations and 
experiences without creating strong feeling. Self' 
Giving is of remarkable interest and cannot help 
attracting wide attention. 



